A BNP candidate has caused a storm by make making a vile comment about a voter in St Helens.
James Winstanley, an active member of the BNP who stood in last year’s general election, made the comment on his Facebook webpage along with a crude racist slur.
Shaven-headed Winstanley, 21, boasted that a woman had shouted at him as he leafleted for the forthcoming local elections and then joked about how he would return later that day to post excrement through her letterbox instead.
Winstanley, of Poynter Street, Thatto Heath, was a key member of a gang of party activists who stormed Birkenhead Magistrates’ Court last month and threatened to arrest a judge.
He has also stood in several local elections for the party, recently contesting the Haydock by-election - where he only mustered 141 votes.
And his latest outburst is unlikely to win many votes in the Bold ward - where he is standing in the May 5 local elections.
Winstanley, who is part of the North West BNP security team and has acted as a bodyguard to party leader Nick Griffin, could not be contacted for comment and there was no answer when the Reporter visited his home.
But a BNP spokesman jumped to his defence.
He said: “I’m sure James was merely figuratively speaking. When the BNP membership list was leaked a couple of years ago the comedienne Jo Brand said something similar - what’s the difference?
“If our guy (Winstanley) had called the police to report the lady for a public order offence he would have been a laughing stock. Lots of comments like this go on Facebook every day.”
Other messages posted by Winstanley included offensive remarks about Muslims and told how he had stormed into Birkenhead Magistrates’ Court as part of a “lawful rebellion” to arrest a judge for not acting under common law.
Simon Cressy, of Searchlight Magazine, who first came across Winstanley’s posts, told the St Helens Reporter: “Winstanley’s disgusting comments represent the true face of the British National Party. This goes to show the contempt that the BNP have for the voters of the area.”
Admitting that the language Winstanley used about Muslims was “not something I approve of”, the BNP spokesman added: “Searchlight is a publicly funded body which receives a lottery grant and spends all its time following our members on Facebook. Why can’t they attack us on policy instead?”
* Did you tell Winstanley to stop posting BNP leaflets through your door? Contact our newsdesk on 01744 611011
The St Helens Reporter
Showing posts with label St Helens. Show all posts
Showing posts with label St Helens. Show all posts
April 13, 2011
April 27, 2009
April Fools
This article was submitted by one of our readers, Iliacus. We welcome any contributions from our supporters (as long as those contributions conform to the law and are in reasonably good taste). Please send your articles to us via email.
March was a worrying month for anti-fascists. The BNP was gaining an unfortunate amount of publicity, and a worrying degree of support. They still weren't terribly good at actually fielding candidates - contesting just eight out of twenty one contests. But where they did stand they polled disturbing percentages. In seven seats contested for the first time they averaged 15.97%, with three around the 20% figure and only one (just) below 10%. More encouraging was the result in the only ward that they'd previously contested (in St Helens) where they fell from a poor 8.9% to a dismal 6.3%.
As the song almost said :
In the Dormanstown ward of Redcar Labour again lost the seat, this time to the Lib Dems, and the BNP (standing for the first time) polled 16.6%. They also polled 13.6% in an Arun Council by-election in rural West Sussex - geographically and demographically a long, long way from Dormanstown!! But in the Skircoat ward of Calderdale, in an area of West Yorkshire once considered a BNP stronghold, they polled just 6.5%. Their failure to field a candidate in Camden on that date might be a reflection of how badly they have done in some recent Inner London contests, but is also part of a pattern of failing to contest byelections in areas one might regard as quite important to their wider strategy (on the last Thursday in February they failed to nominate in seats in Newham, Redditch (2), Oxford and Wolverhampton).
Mid-April was quiet, with no byelections on the 9th and just one on the 16th (in Somerset - no BNP candidate).
On the 23rd though there were six contests, and three BNP nominees (giving a total so far for the month of 7/14 = 50%). In Wanstead (Redbridge London Borough), in their supposedly fertile East London/Essex belt, they managed a thoroughly miserable 4.9%. In Erewash, in their showpiece East Midlands region, they took a poor 11.5% as Labour took the seat off the Conservatives. And then they showed that they are truly the British Nationalist Party (and not just a bunch of English racists) by contesting the Aboyne ward of Aberdeenshire Council. And they got 44 votes - that's a magical 1.2%! It was a result that provoked a lively 'exchange of views' among the keyboard warriors of Stormfront. 'Jacob Cobain' had a ready explanation of the poor result - the ballot boxes had clearly been tampered with!! And every anti-fascist will laugh along as a claim that this was a "worst ever" BNP result was rebutted by a list of results where the deluded fools had managed to plumb the depths of less than 1%. Where but in the BNP would supporters defend a terrible result by listing even worse examples?
Which was your worse result BNPer - 4.9% in East London, or 1.2% in Scotland?
March was a worrying month for anti-fascists. The BNP was gaining an unfortunate amount of publicity, and a worrying degree of support. They still weren't terribly good at actually fielding candidates - contesting just eight out of twenty one contests. But where they did stand they polled disturbing percentages. In seven seats contested for the first time they averaged 15.97%, with three around the 20% figure and only one (just) below 10%. More encouraging was the result in the only ward that they'd previously contested (in St Helens) where they fell from a poor 8.9% to a dismal 6.3%.
As the song almost said :
To know, know, know themApril has been less positive for the BNP. They managed to contest four of the seven by-elections on the 2nd, and came worryingly close to snatching the Temple Newsam ward in Leeds (which the Tories gained from Labour, and in which the Lib Dems achieved the biggest swing!). However, even here their vote share only increased marginally, from 22.2% to 23.6%. The moral seems to be that where several of the major parties compete energetically the BNP's chances to advance are limited.
Is to hate, hate, hate them
In the Dormanstown ward of Redcar Labour again lost the seat, this time to the Lib Dems, and the BNP (standing for the first time) polled 16.6%. They also polled 13.6% in an Arun Council by-election in rural West Sussex - geographically and demographically a long, long way from Dormanstown!! But in the Skircoat ward of Calderdale, in an area of West Yorkshire once considered a BNP stronghold, they polled just 6.5%. Their failure to field a candidate in Camden on that date might be a reflection of how badly they have done in some recent Inner London contests, but is also part of a pattern of failing to contest byelections in areas one might regard as quite important to their wider strategy (on the last Thursday in February they failed to nominate in seats in Newham, Redditch (2), Oxford and Wolverhampton).
Mid-April was quiet, with no byelections on the 9th and just one on the 16th (in Somerset - no BNP candidate).
On the 23rd though there were six contests, and three BNP nominees (giving a total so far for the month of 7/14 = 50%). In Wanstead (Redbridge London Borough), in their supposedly fertile East London/Essex belt, they managed a thoroughly miserable 4.9%. In Erewash, in their showpiece East Midlands region, they took a poor 11.5% as Labour took the seat off the Conservatives. And then they showed that they are truly the British Nationalist Party (and not just a bunch of English racists) by contesting the Aboyne ward of Aberdeenshire Council. And they got 44 votes - that's a magical 1.2%! It was a result that provoked a lively 'exchange of views' among the keyboard warriors of Stormfront. 'Jacob Cobain' had a ready explanation of the poor result - the ballot boxes had clearly been tampered with!! And every anti-fascist will laugh along as a claim that this was a "worst ever" BNP result was rebutted by a list of results where the deluded fools had managed to plumb the depths of less than 1%. Where but in the BNP would supporters defend a terrible result by listing even worse examples?
"Yeah, we didn't do very well - but it's better than 0.7%. Innit!"June's Euro-elections are still a worry, with the distinct possibility of one or more of our regions suffering the shame of being represented in the European Parliament by racists, but for the moment just enjoy the thought of taunting your local fascist with their April Fool question:
Which was your worse result BNPer - 4.9% in East London, or 1.2% in Scotland?
Labels:
Aboyne,
April Fool,
BNP,
Calderdale,
Iliacus,
Jacob Cobain,
St Helens,
Stormfront,
Wanstead
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